Special Issue Call for Papers:

Future UAV-based networks are required to provide high levels of data-rates, security, range, and dynamicity. In this context, operating UAVs using the upcoming tactile internet environment and low latency 5G networks can solve the problem of network coverage and data-rates. Furthermore, the use of Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and Intent-based Networking (IBN) can solve the issue of dynamic network management. The applications of UAVs are rapidly increasing in almost all civilian domains. Air taxis, Food drones, drones for medicine delivery are some of the major civilian applications of UAVs. In such applications, it is imperative to verify the authenticity and operations of the UAVs in real-time for which Blockchain technology is a highly promising solution. The power-constraints of UAVs can be addressed by recharging batteries on-the-go with solutions such as solar panels or wireless charging. Additionally, better algorithms can be implemented to make the UAV computations more energy efficient. Most practical applications of UAVs would generally require a swarm of many drones rather than a single drone. Proper management, cooperation, and autonomy of such swarms would require various Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms. The geographic range of operations, clearance of access to civilian and military airspaces, network coverage, duration of flight, security requirements, autonomy, among many others, are some of the issues which must be addressed before such applications can become a reality. Broadly, these fall under the category of scalability and security. This special issue is to explore application-specific UAV platforms that employ novel techniques for multiple new applications that are both scalable and secure.

Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited, to the following ones:

Secure 5G UAV communications

Secure UAV-based edge-computing networks

Software Defined 5G UAV networks

Lightweight Blockchain Security for UAV networks

Scalable Automation in UAV networks

Securing Wireless Charging transactions in UAV networks

Scalable Wireless Charging platforms for UAV networks

Energy-aware SDN for UAV networks.

Lightweight cryptographic primitives for UAV networks

Intelligent resource management for UAV networks

5G dark-zone coverage using UAV networks

UAV platforms for cellular blackouts

Scalable solutions to physical UAV-tampering

Unauthorized UAV detection and mitigation

Battery and energy management in UAV-based networks

Important dates

Paper submission deadline: June 30, 2020

First round reviews notification: September 30, 2020

Deadline of revised submissions: November 30, 2020

Acceptance Notification: January 31, 2021
Submission of Final Files: February 28, 2021

Please visit https://www.evise.com/profile/#/COMCOM/login to submit your manuscript. To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified for inclusion into the special issue, please select “UAV-Sec-Scalable” when you reach the Article Type step in the submission process. For further information, please contact the guest editors.